So this was to be a cute little French movie called Shall We Kiss?, of course I wanted to see it. It was recommended to me by Netflix otherwise I would have never heard of this movie. The movie doesn’t have any internationally acclaimed stars or directors and seemed just like a lighthearted good time of a movie.
The plot follows the course of one night when a young woman visiting a small town in France meets a man who offers her a ride and asks if he can kiss her at the end of the night. She refuses and cites that it’s because of a story of how one kiss changed everything for a couple of friends of hers. She then recounts the tale to the young man about her friends, Judith and Nicolas, who were life long friends until one day they kissed. This kiss was the product of a so called solution to help Nicolas who was suffering for a longing of physical affection that he couldn’t find elsewhere. The kiss sparks a hidden love between the two which wouldn’t be a problem if Judith wasn’t already happily married.
The plot was long and involved. It was not a quirky little love story as I was expecting instead a deeper darker look into the beliefs behind falling in and out of love. Overall, the plot was humorous enough and moving, but it did seem to drag on forever. I think the story could’ve been greatly condensed. Although this movie is a product from a different culture, the plot was a little bit anti-marriage which take it as you may for a good thing or not. The characters did seem to change by the end of the movie but not necessarily develop.
The movie was obviously lower budget and had cheap film. There also wasn’t any real stylistic editing or sound mixing in it which I think could’ve helped to make the movie not seem to drag on forever like it did. A good soundtrack will always make the film seem more enjoyable and less boring and slow. With the exception of Shubert’s compositions, the sound editing was lacking. The fact that the movie just drug on and on is also partly due to the editing which should have sped up the pace of the movie.
I found the two leads of this movie quite strange and I don’t think it really transcended cultures. At first they were very awkward and mechanical, which was comically during the love scenes but at the same time a little strange. I just couldn’t imagine those characters in real life. By the time their love developed fully, they then became normal people who acted like they were in love with each other. The transformation between the characters was just a little strange to watch.
Overall, the movie just didn’t make a whole lot of sense. The message was not very clear, although it could’ve had a lot to do with fate and dealing with consequences of your decisions. Although when she decides to go ahead and kiss the stranger she just met, even though she’s also happily married to the estranged husband of Judith, it just didn’t seem right with the story, even if she does put some rules in place so that nothing can be created as a result of the kiss. But apparently, its acceptable to kiss people when you’re married in France and it’s not cheating? The movie wasn’t what I was expecting. I probably would not recommend this movie to anyone that I know personally. As far as for a French audience, who knows. “Is it okay if I caress your other breast now?” -- Shall We Kiss?.
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